Uninsured in S.A. can sign up for 'Obamacare' benefits

By Josh Baugh :
October 1, 2013
: Updated: October 2, 2013 6:47am

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff holds a pamphlet aimed at providing residents with information about the new health care program.

Photo By Kin Man Hui / San Antonio Express-News

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services didn't provide any numbers on how many navigated the system.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Certified Application Counselor Maria Lee (center) answers questions from a couple interested in enrolling in the Health Insurance Marketplace at CentroMed Wellness Center off Commercial Avenue on the first day of enrollment on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. City Mayor Julian Castro, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, City Manager Sheryl Sculley and CentroMed CEO Ernesto Gomez lead a press conference marking the first day of enrollment. Application counselors were present to help people start the process of enrolling into the program. An estimated 300,000 people in San Antonio are uninsured according to officials.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Officials gather at CentroMed Wellness Center on the South Side to highlight the first day of open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. City Mayor Julian Castro, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, City Manager Sheryl Sculley and CentroMed CEO Ernesto Gomez lead a press conference marking the first day of enrollment. Application counselors were present to help people start the process of enrolling into the program. An estimated 300,000 people in San Antonio are uninsured according to officials.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff addresses an audience at a press conference at CentroMed Wellness Center on the South Side to highlight the first day of open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. Wolff was joined by City Mayor Julian Castro, City Manager Sheryl Sculley and CentroMed CEO Ernesto Gomez during the press conference marking the first day of enrollment. Application counselors were present to help people start the process of enrolling into the program. An estimated 300,000 people in San Antonio are uninsured according to officials.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Julian Castro is mayor of San Antonio.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Officials gather at CentroMed Wellness Center on the South Side to highlight the first day of open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. City Mayor Julian Castro, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, City Manager Sheryl Sculley and CentroMed CEO Ernesto Gomez lead a press conference marking the first day of enrollment. Application counselors were present to help people start the process of enrolling into the program. An estimated 300,000 people in San Antonio are uninsured according to officials.

More Information

Seeking coverage

For more information about obtaining health insurance, visit healthcare.gov, or any of the city's 26 libraries, or call CentroMed at (210) 922-7000, ext. 4.

“Today, the landscape of health care in America changes for the better,” Castro said.

A key element of the federal act, labeled Obamacare, is the marketplace, which allows previously uninsured people to purchase reasonably priced health insurance.

An estimated 300,000 people in the San Antonio area are without health insurance, officials said. Asked what percentage would enroll, Castro joked that he expected 100 percent.

“We know that as a practical matter, it's not going to be 100 percent,” he said. “But the success of the Affordable Care Act also depends upon a vast majority of folks who are not insured getting insurance. So the more folks that enroll, the better it is for all Americans.”

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said after discussions with University Health System officials, he believes about 100,000 of the 300,000 can afford to enroll in the insurance program.

The federal shutdown has been driven by a Republican attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act, but on the day that thousands of federal employees across San Antonio didn't go to work, uninsured folks in San Antonio could begin signing up for coverage.

“It's just amazing to me to see how dysfunctional they are in Congress — trying to stop what we're doing right now is just absolutely crazy,” Wolff said.

Castro noted that funding for the Affordable Care Act is “locked in,” so “as you can see, it's starting today — regardless of what's happened in D.C.”

Officials said people who want more information about obtaining health insurance can visit www.healthcare.gov, or any of the city's 26 libraries, or call CentroMed at (210) 922-7000, ext. 4.

The insurance plans will go into effect Jan. 1, and open enrollment continues through March 31.

People without health insurance have endured ailments that could have been diagnosed and treated through preventive care, and they've used hospitals' emergency rooms as their primary-care physicians, Castro said.

“Today, that ends. Today, they have the opportunity to get the health care coverage they need so that preventive care will make them healthier for a lifetime,” he said. “It is something to truly celebrate — but the challenge is ensuring that folks who are uninsured enroll.”